Many children of marginalised families in Soacha show early developmental delays due to lack of stimulation and affection, as well as malnutrition. Although they are supervised by lay child carers during the day in state-funded neighbourhood day-care centres, their care rooms are not child-friendly and their child carers are poorly trained. By providing the lay child carers of 75 neighbourhood day-care centres with training in early childhood education, we offer age-appropriate support to 1,200 children affected by poverty.